Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The 2 1/2 Hour Gang Rape That No One Bothered to Stop

It was a crime shocking not only in its brutality but in its callousness, Richmond police say.

A 15-year-old girl leaving early from the homecoming dance at Richmond High School was enticed into a darkened alley just off campus to hang out with as many as a dozen young men who were drinking.

When the girl joined in and became drunk herself, police say, the men attacked her.

One after another, as many as six men raped the girl, police said Monday. Others watched. For more than two hours, no one tried to stop the attacks, and no one called police.

Predictably (and sadly) several comment-posters around the Internet are suggesting that the 15-year-old victim in this story bears some of the responsibility for her being raped.* (See, for example, the comments attached to the CBS Crimesider blog.)

God bless former Nashville Is Talking blogger Brittney Gilbert (who currently writes the Eye on Blogs blog for San Francisco's CBS affiliate) for crafting this post, in which she offers pointers for preventing rape and sexual assault. Among them:

If a woman is drunk, don’t rape her.If a woman is walking alone at night, don’t rape her.If a women is drugged and unconscious, don’t rape her.If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don’t rape her.If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don’t rape her. . . .

2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!

3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them! . . .

5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!

7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.